hax

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Portlandia

hax @hax6/7/2023, 5:01 PM

Tom (tired of the computer)@masklayer

Damien @eramdam6/7/2023, 3:14 PM

PSA: To anybody in the "wildfires makes the air unbreathable" zone

Take it from somebody who had multiple "fire seasons" in the past few years here in the Bay Area: get an air purifier for your home, like now.
They might be sold out everywhere because you won't be the first one trying to get one right now but do it as soon as they get in stock.

You don't need a very expensive or a big one, depending on the size of your rooms, a cheaper one does plenty already and it WILL help. The last thing you want is having to sleep with a mask on because the air inside your bedroom is unbreathable.

Even outside of "fire makes air unbreathable" season an air purifier is really good to have in your place. It might run at the lower setting or not at all 90% of the time but you'll be happy to have it filter the air the rest of the time.

EDIT: I have been told to NOT get any "ionizing" filters for airpurifiers, as those produce ozone which, huh, you don't want in your home or anywhere near your lungs

https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/what-are-ionizers-and-other-ozone-generating-air-cleaners

hax @hax6/7/2023, 5:01 PM

I made one of those HVAC filters duct taped to a box fan and they work really well for this.

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in reply to @eramdam's post:

meredith @meredith6/7/2023, 4:34 PM

ionizers produce some but relatively little ozone when part of most consumer fans and filters, while there are also devices dedicated to producing ozone which is not great to have in enclosed spaces. the later usually bills itself as a sanitizer, but doesn't use a UV light to do so, and doesn't have a particulate filter. it's effect is so strong though that the air output actually smells "clean".

since everyone should be looking for "HEPA" an easy tell is that these probably won't mention that term at all.

i actually haven't seen one of this risky kind since ~2000 myself, when someone was selling them door to door in a neighborhood full of older folks who got taken in by the pitch

Irenes (many)@ireneista6/7/2023, 5:04 PM

great point about looking for HEPA filters, yeah

for those who don't know, HEPA is an industrial standard for filter quality, and definitely something to check when buying this stuff.

the standard only pertains to the filter component itself, so do pay attention to it but don't assume it's the only thing that matters. in industrial contexts you normally hook up the filter in-line with a building's entire air supply, which is always going to be more effective than leaving a device in the middle of a room, since you have no way to ensure that all your air actually passes through the filter. so do pay attention to how well your device actually circulates air, in addition to the filter rating.